POPE PAYS HOMAGE TO GREEK-CATHOLIC MARTYRS

VATICAN CITY, JUN 10, 1999 (VIS) - This morning the Pope travelled by helicopter to Siedlce, a city east of Warsaw, where at 10:15 in 'Blonia Siedleckie', a broad expanse at the heliport, he celebrated the Mass of the Blessed Martyrs of Podlasie. A large group of Greek-Catholic faithful were among the participants.

In his homily, the Pope recalled that in the area of Pratulin, within the diocese of Siedlce, "the confessors of Christ belonging to the Greek-Catholic Church, Blessed Wincenty Lewoniuk and his twelve companions, were martyred."

These martyrs "bore witness to their fidelity to Christ in His holy Church. In the world in which they lived they sought courageously to defeat, by means of truth and goodness, the evil that was spreading ever more widely, and they strove lovingly to calm the hatred that was raging. ... These simple people, fathers of families, chose at the critical moment to suffer death rather that yield to pressure in a way untrue to their conscience. ... We thank them for their witness which should become the heritage of the entire Church in Poland for the third millennium which is now so near. They made their great contribution to the building of unity."

"Now more than ever," the Pope insisted, "there is a need for a genuine witness of faith, made visible through the life of the lay disciples of Christ, men and women, young and old. There is a need for committed witness to fidelity to the Church and responsibility towards the Church."

After referring to the challenges that face the young, such as the menace posed by sects, the manipulation of the truth and "attitudes of selfishness, injustice and insensitivity to the needs of others," the Holy Father affirmed: "Faithful to your lay identity and living in the world, you can actively and effectively transform the world in the spirit of the Gospel."

John Paul II then spoke of those who have borne the "greatest sacrifices" in Poland. "Often in its history, our nation has had to defend its own faith and endure oppression and persecution for fidelity to the Church. The post-war period in particular was a time of especially intense struggle against the Church, waged by a totalitarian system. The attempt was made then to forbid the teaching of religion in schools; the public display of faith was made difficult, as was the building of churches and chapels. How many sacrifices had to be made, what courage was needed to keep our Christian identity intact. Yet no one succeeded in removing the Cross. ... It became for the nation and for the Church a wellspring of strength and a sign of unity among people."

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